Eastern Hercules Beetle

The15thMember · July 10, 2024, 06:24:31 PM

Look who one of the kids found outside last night, our friend Mrs. Hercules Beetle! We have seen one or two on this property before, but still no males, who have the characteristic rhinoceros-like horns. These beetles can be over 2 inches long and live for up to 8 months. The adults feed on sugary sap (scientists think, there have been only a few instances of someone observing adults feeding), and the larvae eat decaying wood. Each Hercules beetle has a pattern of spots unique only to them, like a fingerprint, and their shells can absorb moisture and appear darker or lighter depending on how damp the conditions are. When it's very dry, the beetles are light tan color, and if they are very wet, they can appear almost all black.

Terri Yaki · July 10, 2024, 06:43:41 PM

Ewwww, you handled it?

The15thMember · July 10, 2024, 07:45:41 PM

What is wrong with you! There is absolutely nothing gross about her! She's no different than a big shiny bee. I'm being dead serious. What about her is gross to you?

iddee · July 10, 2024, 08:12:28 PM

City boy.....

Terri Yaki · July 10, 2024, 08:21:46 PM

Quote from: The15thMember on July 10, 2024, 07:45:41 PM
What is wrong with you! There is absolutely nothing gross about her! She's no different than a big shiny bee. I'm being dead serious. What about her is gross to you?

She's a bug. Now if it was a night crawler, that would be another story.

The15thMember · July 10, 2024, 10:10:34 PM

Quote from: iddee on July 10, 2024, 08:12:28 PM
City boy.....

That's gotta be it. Especially if he can't give me any better explanation.

Quote from: Terri Yaki on July 10, 2024, 08:21:46 PM
She's a bug. Now if it was a night crawler, that would be another story.

News flash, you are currently keeping, by choice, several thousand bugs in hives.

Or do you think they are gross too?

Terri Yaki · July 10, 2024, 10:13:30 PM

No, those bugs are great! And BTW, never lived in a city. I still eliminate bugs with the assistance of a paper towel. And don't tell anyone but I wasn't always cool with night crawlers either.

The15thMember · July 10, 2024, 10:49:42 PM

I used to be like you, Terri, back when I was a suburbanite, and I look back on that era as one of the darkest period of my life. I now crusade to help people understand and appreciate the wonders of the insect world, to become enlightened as I have become. But I can see you are a lost cause. Remain in darkness and ignorance if you must. I supposed some people are past saving.

In all seriousness, the only bugs in the house that I have a standing kill order on are house centipedes (we call them "thousand leggers"). And that is due to their nasty habit of turning up in exceedingly offensive places like in a bed or behind a shampoo bottle and then running at top speed in an entirely haphazard fashion to some other exceedingly offensive place like onto a person. I appreciate their existence, but I don't want them in my living space. I kill ants if they are in the kitchen, because they won't keep their mouths shut and one ant will become a hundred. I'll kill a fly if it's being bothersome. Everything else either is allowed to coexist, especially spiders, or I catch in a cup and release outside.

Michael Bush · July 11, 2024, 05:37:54 AM

Bees aren't shiny, they are fuzzy.

Terri Yaki · July 11, 2024, 07:38:48 AM

Quote from: Michael Bush on July 11, 2024, 05:37:54 AM
Bees aren't shiny, they are fuzzy.

LOL that's right. Besides, we know what they're up to. Beetles not so much but around here, it's usually no good.

The15thMember · July 11, 2024, 11:33:33 AM

Quote from: Michael Bush on July 11, 2024, 05:37:54 AM
Bees aren't shiny, they are fuzzy.

So what? Shiny isn't synonymous with gross. She's not slimy or anything, she just smooth, like a river stone. And actually she was pretty fuzzy underneath. These big scarabs usually have a good bit of fuzz on their leg joints. I'm thinking it helps to keep particulates out of their joints when they are digging.

Quote from: Terri Yaki on July 11, 2024, 07:38:48 AM
Besides, we know what they're up to. Beetles not so much but around here, it's usually no good.

What a load of hogwash! You flaunt ignorance as if it were knowledge! I just told you what they are up to! And nothing they do is what would be categorized as "no good". Are some beetles pests? Yes, but to categorize all beetles as such is nothing more than bigotry, beetle bigotry.

And not knowing what something does is no excuse to assume its behavior is nefarious. People were keeping bees and benefiting from them LONG before they understood what they are "up to". And to this day we still don't know anywhere near everything we could know about bees, which is part of what makes them so fascinating. How does that not apply to the entire insect world? To the entire natural world? Everything in nature is designed to exist in a particular niche, to perform a particular set of tasks inextricably interconnected with everything around it, tasks that are useful and good, and not "usually no good". This idea that the overwhelming majority of the insect kingdom exists exclusively to be a scourge upon mankind is one of the biggest lies of the modern world.

iddee · July 11, 2024, 12:02:13 PM

Terri, 3 rules in life.

1.Don't french kiss a rattlesnake.

2... Don't pee into the wind.

3... Don't argue with a woman.

The15thMember · July 11, 2024, 12:15:15 PM

I'm sorry if I'm coming on a little strong here. I'm not really angry. But I am dead passionate about this.

Terri Yaki · July 11, 2024, 12:35:40 PM

Quote from: The15thMember on July 11, 2024, 12:15:15 PM
I'm sorry if I'm coming on a little strong here. I'm not really angry. But I am dead passionate about this.

I see that and I'm laughing, not at you though. I just don't care to put that much effort into knowing about insects. Like I've said, I'm lazy. I won't argue that most living things have their place here for some reason but many of their reasons don't align with me and mine and I'm not interested enough to delve into it. And inside my house is for me and my cats. And Mrs. Terri Yaki, of course. Anything else gets the boot.